It's Been One Week Since You Looked At Me
by General KJ
Summary: Daryl's been searching for Sophia the whole time, refusing to give up despite everyone else having already done so. They're definitely surprised with what he manages to find. My very own 'What If Daryl Found Sophia' fic to add to the many already out there. If I continue with this story past oneshot, there will most likely be some Daryl/Sophia non-pairing fluff. T for the dead.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Somebody please stop me...I know starting ANOTHER story whilst I've still got so many unfinished ones is a stupid idea and you want me to finish what I've started, but I've held the desire to write a TWD story inside for too long now, I have to let it out, I'm sorry, I'll try and get to the other ones :(**

**This (as with most other stories featuring Daryl and Sophia), is a 'What would happen if Daryl found Sophia' story. I know there's a lot of them lingering around and all the good ideas have been taken, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway.**

**I apologise in advance for my terrible attempt at a Southern American accent.**

**This fic's title (once again) is another song lyric...it's the opening line from the song 'One Week' by the Barenaked Ladies...figured it was appropriate :)**

**Chapter 1 (I dunno how many there'll be)**

It had been a gruelling last few days, and it didn't look like it was about to get any better. It was late afternoon, the forest was silent. Could've been empty, save for one man. But that one man wasn't about to let his guard down just because he couldn't hear anything. He knew that silence didn't mean something wasn't there.

His knowledge of this was based partially on himself. He knew he was barely making any noise as he moved, despite the abundance of dry leaves on the ground, a fact he prided himself on. But this wasn't exactly the time to give himself a pat on the back. The daylight was beginning to leave him, without him making any progress in his search whatsoever. The search in question was for a small girl, about 12 years old he gathered from the multiple times he'd heard her mother shout _"She's only 12, we can't just leave her out there!" _But that was at the start, back when the group still believed she was alive out there and that all they had to do was go get her. It seemed everyone had all but given up. Even Carol, her own mother, had retreated into seclusion among her self-designated chores to take her mind off it. But not Daryl. He wouldn't...no...COULDN'T...give up on her.

He didn't understand why he felt responsible for her. Perhaps it was because the woods were his playground and he felt that he and only he would stand a chance of finding her. He supposed that was why he was searching for her alone; others would only slow him down. He remembered the argument he had had before leaving the farm they were staying at, the argument that caused him to skulk off into the woods by himself.

* * *

_"We should have a memorial for her. Something small. Something nice." Rick had suggested to Carol mainly but addressed the whole group as he spoke._

_Carol had said nothing in response and it worried everyone. But Daryl knew that, although she understood and was grateful for Rick's offer, she still believed that her little girl was alive._

_"You don't have memorials for the living." He had meant it to sound casual, but there was a slight bit of accusation towards Rick and anyone else who had thought of the idea._

_Carol looked him in the eye and gave him a weak smile. The fact that he had been out every day for the last week looking for her missing daughter was evidence enough that his hope was still going strong and it lifted hers._

_"You're an idiot Dixon!" Shane piped up "Nobody's seen her for the last week!"_

_"Exactly!" Daryl retorted._

_Everyone, including Carol, looked at him with puzzled expressions._

_"Nobody's seen her, which means she either got far away on her own, or she found a safe place to hide. Both mean she could be very much alive!"_

_Now Daryl was not usually considered an overly intelligent man, but most of the group understood where his logic was coming from even if they weren't convinced of the conclusion._

_That was when Carol spoke up for the first time in a long time._

_"Daryl's right." She said calmly. "I don't want a memorial, because Sophia is still alive until somebody finds her otherwise."_

_To some people her words might have sounded callous, had it not been for the small smile she was giving the group's hunter. He had most definitely restored her broken spirit, at least for the time being._

_"Oh for the love of..." Shane's string of profanities went on for a while, so Daryl decided he was wasting time if he stayed to listen._

_He shouldered his crossbow, checked his hunting knife was safely stowed in his belt sheathe, and proceeded to make his way towards one of the small gates in the fence that surrounded the farm._

* * *

The trip into his short term memory had briefly made him lose track of time, and the sun judging by the sudden darkness he noticed. He sighed internally. Memories were not going to help him find Sophia when they insisted on constantly distracting him. He scanned as far as he could make out in the rapidly depleting light, checking all directions. He saw nothing, no walkers, no tracks, no evidence she was nearby. He decided that in the morning he would start on the other side of the farm and head round from that side to see if he could find anything.

As he turned to leave something hit him on the back of the head. It had surprised him as he was sure there was nothing nearby. This caused him to whirl round with immense speed, bringing his crossbow up to eye level and pointing it at the mystery 'thing' that had managed to creep up on him. But there was nothing there.

He glanced down to see a small shoe. By the looks of it, it had used to be white, but wear and dirt had soon seen the color become a more dull greyish brownish. The fading light also didn't help the colors stand out. He bent down and picked up the shoe, bringing it to his face to examine. He'd never really taken an interest in Sophia's feet, but he immediately knew this was her shoe. He started spinning round frantically, trying to find the origin of the projectile shoe, but to no avail.

His eye's began to strain against the darkness, the only light was from the moon that occasionally peeked through the tree canopies when they moved.

Just as suddenly as the first, another shoe hit him. This time on the top of his right shoulder and fell to the floor in front of him. He quickly looked up. Above him, he saw the silhouette of a small person against the moonlight and he could barely make out her features, but what he COULD see confirmed his suspicions. That trademark weak smile that she must have gotten from her mother. His smile however, would be more classified as a medium sized grin. Not that Sophia had probably ever seen him smile at all, or that anyone had seen him smile for that matter.

"Hey" She croaked down to him.

"Hey there," He whispered back up, not wanting to draw the attention of anything lurking in the shadows, "been lookin fer ya."

"Really?" She replied, almost sounding surprised.

"Hey! Ain't nobody gon' fergit 'boutcha!"

He felt kind of hurt that she thought they'd given up on her, even though most of them had. But then again she'd been out here on her own for a week up until this point.

"C'mon down, wer' gon' gitcha back afore some mushy faced freaks get the jump on us." Daryl informed her.

Sophia nodded and quickly scrambled down the tree, the threat of the undead coming back to her after the brief bit of relief that someone had found her. Once she got to the floor and started to slip her shoes back on, Daryl realized that in the dim light he could still see her pale face with dark circles round her eyes, and her now skinnier, bonier frame. He knew she wasn't big to begin with but he still couldn't help but think how fragile she looked right now, like one wrong step and she'd snap in two like a twig. It was then that he realized his master plan how one particular flaw. He figured he could last the day without lunch because finding Sophia was more important, but what he forgot was that if he found her, she likely wouldn't have eaten a great deal if anything at all. He fumbled around his belt and unhooked the small canteen that hung by his left hip, it still had a bit of water in it from the day before, but not much.

"Here," he offered her the water after she carefully stood up and wobbled a bit, "it ain't much but I don' spose you been drinkin much out 'ere anyway?"

She accepted his offer and tipped her head right back, glugging down what remained of the water. When she straightened back up too quickly she suddenly felt dizzy and she would've fallen over had Daryl not used his free hand to catch her. He strapped his bow back over his shoulder then took the canteen from her and clipped it to his belt.

"Yer dehydrated," he told her, "here lemme carry ya."

Before she could object he'd scooped her up bridal style and turned to briskly walk back the way he came. He wasn't up for being out in the woods at night with the dead walking around any longer than he had to be, what with carrying a preteen girl in his arms and all. It left little opportunity to defend himself should he need to. So he opted for speed and discretion.

* * *

Fortunately, they made it back unscathed. At one point Daryl slowed down a bit because he thought he saw a shadow lumbering clumsily off to one side, but the quietly crept past it and continued onwards. When they arrived back at the edge of the farm Daryl stopped. He had to make sure they either saw he was blatantly not a walker, or he had to sneak in unnoticed until he was close enough that someone could see for themselves that he wasn't. He saw a small fire in the middle of the camp with a few people sat round it. He also saw Dale on the roof of the RV binoculars up to his face. He probably couldn't see a great deal in the dark and couldn't tell friend from foe. So Daryl chose stealth as his method of entry.

Before Sophia could ask why he'd stopped, he was off again, crouching as low as he could with her on his back. He made his way carefully through the longer grass towards the edge of the field and angled himself round a bit so that he wasn't directly in Dale's line of sight. Before leaving the long grass he whispered a quiet shush to indicate for Sophia to be quiet. She didn't question his orders and didn't make a peep.

Around the campfire, the group sat finishing off their small meal. There wasn't a great deal being said. Everyone was still a bit on edge from that morning's argument.

"Why isn't Daryl back yet?" Carl suddenly asked.

The only response came from Shane.

"Who cares?! If that asshole wants to go runnin' off into the woods on his own, I ain't gonna miss him."

There was a brief silence.

"Glad to know I won't be missed." A gruff sarcastic voice came from the darkness behind him.

Daryl hadn't intended to come up behind Shane specifically, but he'd be lying if he said the look of shock on his face when he turned round wasn't amusing.

"What about me? Was I missed?" A small barely audible voice appeared to come out of Daryl's chest.

As Daryl stepped into the light of the campfire there was a moment when the group were confused as to whose voice it could possibly have been. That was until all their eyes went wide at the same time. The entire group was speechless until Carol jumped up, knocking what little food she had left onto the floor, and ran over to the pair, embracing her young daughter and inadvertently Daryl as well.

He felt a little awkward, but he wasn't about to just drop her and run, so he endured. One by one people snapped out of their trance and got up to come over to them. Most of the group were still in amazement, but managed to welcome Sophia back, comfort Carol or congratulate Daryl.

Public displays of affection weren't really Daryl's thing, nor was appreciation for something he did. He was willing it to be over quickly when finally Carol decided that Sophia needed to get some food and water in her. So he put her down and allowed the women to check that she was comfy and had plenty to eat, while the men either stood and looked on or made their way back to their seats. Except Shane, who hadn't gotten up at all. They quickly exchanged glares, though Daryl's was more of an 'I told you so!' glare.

Whilst everyone was seeing to Sophia, Daryl managed to sidle off back to his tent. Once inside, he zipped it all the way up and just flopped onto his sleeping bag, not bothering to take his crossbow off of his back. The adrenaline rush he'd not realized he'd had when he found Sophia had now worn off and his head was pulling him into a deep sleep.

**A/N: Well, this was twice as long as my usual chapters, but I really started getting into it. I suppose I could leave it there as a oneshot, or I could carry on. I have a small idea for a second chapter at least, but the decision on whether this story continues or not is down to you! The reader! So leave a review and tell me what you think!**

**R&amp;R :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The general consensus is to continue this story and I'm gonna tone down Daryl's accent because I've been told it's very distracting and I totally agree with that. It felt awkward to type and then when I read it back after posting it, it just wasn't right.**

**I've got this chapter partially planned out in my head. So I'm not quite winging it, but it's fairly close to just going with the flow.**

**Chapter 2**

From the moment he became conscious, Daryl was aware of the cold, it made for a fairly uncomfortable wake up. It wasn't the only problem though. In the night he'd rolled over, and his crossbow was digging into his back. As uncomfortable as that was, it didn't compare to the odd feeling down his left side. Despite the chill in the air, his entire left side was pretty warm, bordering on hot. He also couldn't move his arm, couldn't even feel it. He wanted to check himself over, but it was bright outside and the light was leaking through the walls of the tent, making his eyes hurt when he tried to open them. He'd definitely overslept and he wasn't happy about it.

It was then that he heard a panicked noise just outside his tent. It was a shrill voice followed by the frantic unzipping of his tent, and eventually, as he managed to crack his eyelids open and lift his head to look at the opening he was greeted with a face contorted into a mixture of confusion, shock and relief.

* * *

Carol felt the chilly air when she awoke, but it had become common occurrence when sleeping in a tent in the middle of a field. She ignored it though; she'd had the best night's sleep in a long time last night. Nothing could ruin her morning. At least until she turned over and saw she was alone in her tent. Her eyes immediately widened, she shot up quicker than she had ever moved in her life and dashed out of the tent.

Carol stood, bare foot, on the cold damp ground. She looked around, searching frantically. She saw Glenn on the roof of the RV taking watch, Shane was stacking newly chopped firewood, and Lori had just finished folding some freshly dried clothes and made her way over with a smile on her face. It faltered when she saw Carol's worried face.

"Is Sophia okay?" She asked, becoming slightly worried herself.

So she hadn't dreamt the events of last night, those words made Carol a little calmer, but she still had no idea where Sophia was.

"She's not in the tent, I don't know where she is." Carol began to really panic, inhaling deeply over and over again.

"Okay okay, take it easy, we'll ask around, she must be with someone, she wouldn't run off alone like that." Lori tried to comfort her.

"Glen?!" Lori called up to the RV.

The young Korean man turned in his chair to acknowledge the call.

"Have you seen Sophia?" She asked.

"Not since last night," he replied, "I've been watching the perimeter throughout the morning though, so she hasn't left."

Both Carol and Lori felt slightly more reassured.

"See, she's not gone off on her own. She's probably exploring the camp."

The two women quickly searched the camp, most people were doing small chores and a couple were still asleep. But nobody they had asked had seen her.

"I'll go ask Daryl, maybe he knows where she's gone." Carol suggested, she was beginning to run out of ideas.

"And I'll check the house; see if Hershel's seen her."

The two nodded at each other before splitting up to find Sophia.

Carol briskly made her way across the camp to Daryl's moderately secluded tent. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, her head pounding. She was worrying like she had before all over again, she couldn't even begin to think where Sophia would've gone, or why she'd got up and left her. The panic came back and she started to feel queasy.

"Daryl?" She called out meekly when she got to his tent. "Daryl!" She called again, this time a bit stronger as she unzipped his tent and looked in.

Her voice caught in her throat when she laid her eyes on him. He'd just lifted his head to look at her.

"What?" He groaned, sounding like he'd just woken up.

* * *

Daryl's head didn't register who the voice belonged to that had just invaded the privacy of his tent, until he raised his head and saw where it came from. His face soon matched Carol's in a way, he furrowed his brows in confusion, but he also squinted slightly because of the light from outside that she had let in. He saw her eyes flick between his face and something next to him. He angled his head down a bit and saw what she was seeing. There, asleep and curled into his side, lying on top of his left arm, was the little girl he'd managed to bring home the day before. Surprise didn't even begin to describe what was happening in his head.

"What the fuck?!" He practically shouted.

His exclamation woke Sophia, and she quickly sat up, taking sharp breathes. He'd obviously made her jump.

Daryl could feel the blood flow back through his arm and into his hand. He used his new-found mobility to sit up, remove the bow from his back and propped himself up on his hands behind him.

"Sophia honey, you had me worried sick, why are you in Daryl's tent?" Carol asked, finally calming herself down.

Sophia just sat, twiddling her thumbs, staring down at them as she did so.

"I had a nightmare," she began to explain, "but you were asleep, so I came to find Daryl, but he was asleep too, and I didn't wanna go back outside, it was cold and dark, so I just lay down next to him and went back to sleep...He was warm and safe."

By this point Carol had calmed her breathing and was kneeling down in the opening of the tent.

"You coulda just woken me up ya know kiddo?" Daryl spoke up, "I'd have taken you back to your mama."

Sophia turned to look at him, her head still down slightly.

"I'm sorry." She said, feeling a little ashamed.

Daryl reached toward her, which made her flinch. He hesitated, but continued on to stroke the side of her head. It was a very un-Daryl-like thing to do but it's the first thing that came into his head.

"Ain't nothin' to be sorry for," He replied, "I ain't saying you're not welcome in my tent, but you get your mama worried and you give me a scare if you sneak up on me like that."

Sophia looked him dead in the eye, which made him tense up and he wasn't sure what to do next, so he withdrew his hand and tried to give her a reassuring smile. Although it came out more crooked than reassuring. She giggled at his awkwardness, she guessed he hadn't been around children all that much, or probably even people in general for that matter. But she didn't care, he was probably one of the strangest and most perplexing people she'd ever met. But he saved her when she thought everyone had given up, and that made him a good person in her books. A great one in fact.

"On the other hand though," Daryl interrupted her train of thought, "I think you need to apologise to your mama for leavin' her all worried like that."

She turned to face her mom.

"Sorry mama, I didn't mean to scare you."

Her apology was genuine, she hadn't thought about what her mother would think when she woke up and her recently re-discovered daughter wasn't there. Carol smiled at her daughter and held her arms out. They both shared a needed hug, which made Daryl feel a little awkward, so he lay back down again.

"Apology accepted," she responded, "now let's leave Daryl to rest properly and go get ourselves some breakfast."

"Okay mama."

Daryl heard Carol push herself off the plastic ground sheet, but was surprised when, for a split second, he saw a mess of dirty blonde hair out the corner of his eye, before little Sophia had thrown herself onto his chest, nearly knocking the air out of him. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Bye Daryl!" she squealed, before planting a quick kiss on his scruffy cheek and jumping up and running out of his tent.

Daryl thanked his lucky star that no one had been around to see him blush bright red. Open displays of affection always made him feel awkward and normally he would hurt the people who tried it with him. But with this little girl, he thought it best if he just let it slide. He just hoped it wasn't going to become a habit.

**A/N: Well, I know it's shorter than the last chapter, but it's still a bit longer than my normal chapters. I usually say about 1000 words per chapter because that way it doesn't take me too long but you're not quite done with it after two seconds. But I think I'm going to make any chapters for this story a bit longer than that.**

**Anyway, a quick semi-response to your reviews...**

**For the 3 people who voted for me to continue (and everyone else who reads this) I presume you want me to carry on again?**

**And Lila, whoever you are, I hope you're more satisfied with the level of accent for Daryl this time round. I also didn't like the way I wrote it last time so I took most of it away.**

**R&amp;R :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Don't be fooled by the current daily updates, this will probably be the last one for a bit (depending on whether or not I can find enough time Friday morning). But seeing as there are reviews for the last chapter and I have a bit of time now, I'm gonna get to it.**

**I've decided that the barn is not full of walkers and that the Greenes don't have any secrets or anything like that. Also, Daryl didn't fall down the ravine and get injured or shot by Andrea.**

**Chapter 3**

Breakfast was pretty uneventful as far as Daryl was concerned. Once he'd left his tent he saw a few people sat round the middle of camp. Looked like Hershel had brought out some bowls, cereal and fresh milk from one of his cows. Perhaps he was in a good mood or he realized that Sophia needed a proper breakfast. The whole camp seemed lifted from what he could tell. He'd managed to slip away from last night's fussing, but doubted it would be so easy in broad daylight when he'd most likely be the new centre of attention.

Upon scanning the group, he noticed Sophia had looked up in his direction and tried to wave him over. It was an action that hadn't gone unnoticed by the others having their breakfast. He glanced up at Glenn on the roof of the RV, who quickly turned away after realizing he had a huge grin on his face. He sighed deeply. All these defensive walls he'd built up, the hard exterior, his shell of solitude, all kicked to the ground by this little girl and her tiny feet. He had hoped people hadn't noticed he cared, but by the looks of it, it was glaringly obvious.

He looked back towards the morning gathering and saw that Sophia had an upset look on her face. It took him a moment to work it out, but then he remembered he hadn't moved since she waved him over and he figured she thought he was mad at her. Well he wasn't, he couldn't be. He tried giving her a smile before making his way over to her.

* * *

Her eyes lit up and her sadness vanished when she saw him coming over. She was worried that she'd over stepped the line, what with the sneaking into his tent and all. But he made her feel safe and she didn't want to jeopardise that. This man wouldn't hurt her like she had originally thought. This man wasn't like her dad. But he was gone now, he couldn't get her. She had once thought that he'd change when the dead started rising. She thought he might turn protective of her and her mother, like a real father and husband. She thought they would stick it out like a normal family for once. But it wasn't like that. He only kept them safe from walkers because he saw them as property, as an investment of his time and effort, what little of each he gave.

But she saw Daryl Dixon as a real man. He could defend, he could attack and he could avoid. And he knew when each was needed. He would protect her because they were human beings not because he owned her.

When he came over, she handed him a bowl of cereal. It was a bit mushy because she'd made it for him as soon as she'd poured her own, but he'd taken a bit longer than she expected. Daryl sat himself down on the log that she was sitting on, so she shuffled in a bit closer to him, on his left side whilst he used his spoon with his right hand. By now she had finished her own breakfast and was just content watching him eat.

* * *

Now Daryl wasn't usually one to eat with a spoon, even before the world went to shit. But his bowl of mush already had one in and there was a little girl watching him expectantly. He figured he should try to set an example, despite wanting to just lift the bowl to his face and drink. Comfortable wasn't the word used to describe the now silent section of the camp as all eyes seemed to be on him. He settled to keeping his eyes directed at his food. He could still feel the pair of eyes staring at him from down to his left, along with every other pair of eyes in the nearby circle around the long dead fire.

Eventually the silent attention got too much for him. He lifted his head and looked directly across the circle. His eyes first met Rick's, then Lori's, Dale's and slowly made their way around each person who was sat down as he spoke.

"My mama once taught me it was rude to stare."

His voice was passively threatening. And just about everybody understood what he was saying. They quickly went back to their quiet talking or their eating, throwing glances at him every now and again, but he didn't care, so long as they weren't completely focused on him.

A single pair of eyes were still trained on him though. He could feel the burn of their gaze in the side of his head. He didn't want to snap at her, but it was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable, knowing she was watching his every move. He turned his head slowly, locking her stare with his own. He could see in her eyes that her thoughts were different from everyone else's. Theirs were all confusion or amusement. In hers he saw admiration and gratitude. She looked up to him now, and he'd brought it on himself. But he didn't once regret it, seeing Rick return that fateful afternoon without her, dragged him into dark depths more than he would ever let on. So many times he'd thought about how different it could've been if he'd been the one to follow her instead. But now that he'd brought her back, he was genuinely relieved.

He broke the lock first, the awkwardness of her stare creeping back in. He'd never had to stare down a child before, or even anyone with an emotion other than anger or hate. It was hard, and she was good. Forgetting what he was going to say about her looking at him, he just went back to his breakfast.

As he finished his food, he felt a lot more relaxed, most of the others had moved off to do some chores or whatever they busied themselves with on a day to day basis. But when he checked on Sophia, she wasn't looking at him anymore; she was staring off into the distance at a horse on the other side of the farm, grazing away at some of the longer grass.

"You ever learn to ride a horse?" He whispered softly, not wanting to attract the attention of the remaining people.

His voice briefly made her jump, but she regained her composure very quickly.

"No." She replied, a bit disheartened.

"Well, maybe I can teach ya?" He offered casually.

Sophia took a sharp intake of breath.

"Really?!" She almost cried out.

"Yeah sure."

Daryl had no idea why he'd offered at all. The words kind of ran out of his mouth before his brain could process them. He mentally cursed his lack of forethought but didn't retract the offer, it couldn't be that bad could it? His thoughts were interrupted by the noises and babbling Sophia was making. He'd completely lost what she was saying, but she was clearly excited.

"I'm gonna go tell mama!" She announced to him, before jumping up and running off to find her mom.

Daryl wasn't sure what he'd got himself into, but he couldn't back out now, it would crush her.

"What was all that about?"

Daryl turned his head to see Glenn walk over from the RV as Andrea took his spot on the roof. He poured himself a mug of milk before looking over expectantly.

"I dunno," Daryl responded, "something about a horse and then she went to go find Carol. I got lost part way through."

Though not quite a lie, Daryl chose to withhold the part where he offered a horse riding lesson. But it didn't matter. Though Daryl didn't know it, Glenn had actually heard the whole thing from his perch. He had better hearing and observational skills than they knew or cared to give him credit for. He chuckled to himself as he sipped his milk.

"What's so funny Chinaman?!" Daryl asked accusingly.

"KO-RE-AN! I'm KOREAN!" An aggravated Glenn pointed out, spelling out the word as he did so.

"Same thing ain't it?" Daryl responded nonchalantly.

"Ignorant Ass..." Was all Glenn could be bothered to respond with.

He got up and walked away drinking his milk. He didn't see any point in getting into that same argument time and time again.

In truth Daryl wasn't that ignorant; he knew the difference between Korea and China. But it was something Merle used to say and it saved him getting into a real conversation with Glenn.

**A/N: ...Yes, I've gone for the cliché 'Daryl teaches Sophia to ride a horse because he's a redneck and we all assume he knew how to do it from the moment he was born' storyline. I wasn't sure where to finish this chapter, so I figured here is as good a place as any.**

**There is a plan for the next chapter, should I get round to writing it. But in the mean time, I would just like to point out that mean no racial offence (I know I have about 4 Chinese readers, ****你好), but it is something that is said in TWD.**

**As I said, I have an idea for the next chapter...I'll clue you in that there's gonna be some fluff and some action! So hopefully it'll be more interesting next time round.**

**R&amp;R :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: T****hank you Sonic Serendipity for the review...The singular only review out of the hundreds of people who have actually read the last chapter in the last few months.**

Last chapter I said I have a plan, but it's been a while, so I've kinda forgotten it. I know vaguely what was going to happen, but the detail has been lost, so I'm kinda making it up as I go along. So let's get on with it shall we?

Chapter 4

After he had finished his breakfast, Daryl was offered a shower. Hershel said that Sophia had had a shower the night before, after he brought her back, because she really needed it, and that he'd definitely earned his. Normally it wouldn't bother Daryl, but it had been a long time since he'd felt clean.

Hershel told Maggie to show him the bathroom and to make sure Daryl knew how the shower worked.

"It's on or off," she told him, "water's not hot, it's luke warm at best."

Daryl just grunted, it was a basic shower; he didn't need a walking talking instruction manual.

"There are shampoos and conditioners over by the window and there's some body gel over by the..."

Daryl quickly cut her off.

"I don't need any of your fancy soaps," he said in a gruff voice, "that bar o'er there'll do me just fine."

He gestured towards the bar of soap hanging by a string from the shower head.

Maggie scowled at him, but left in silence.

Daryl sighed after he shut the door. He didn't want a reward, or any special treatment, but he did really want a decent shower. He looked around. The place was so clean, almost like the world outside hadn't gone to shit. He would've gone as far as to say this bathroom looked quite normal, though bathrooms from his experience didn't look like this, all sparkly white. His own back home had probably never seen a cloth, or disinfectant, and he didn't exactly have friends to compare it to. It was a little too clean for his liking, it made him uncomfortable. He decided it would be best for him to quickly get the shower over and done with. Luke warm wasn't really his style, it had to be scolding hot or freezing cold, and seeing as only one of those options were open to him, he opted for a cold shower. It didn't do much in the way of cleaning him, but he certainly felt fresher.

As he stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel there was a knock at the door and Carol's voice on the other side.

"Daryl!" she called, "there's a fresh shirt here if you want it. I'll just leave it outside the door for you."

"Thanks!" he called back, though it came out more like a grunt.

He could hear her footsteps move away from the door, followed by the soft thuds of her descending the stairs. He slipped his pants back on and reached for the door, kicking his old discarded shirt aside as he did so. He carefully cracked the door open and took a peek outside to make sure no one was around. He couldn't see anyone, and all that he could hear were a few voices downstairs making idle chit chat. He glanced down to see a dark blue checkered shirt, not unlike his own brown one, except it was clean and folded. He opened the door a bit more to bend down and scoop up the new shirt, bringing it inside as he closed the door gently.

Just as he had finished buttoning up the shirt and began to slide his jacket back on there was a furious hammering at the door. His brow furrowed but he quickly opened it anyway.

* * *

Sophia nearly fell through the bathroom door once it had been opened. She hadn't expected him to react so quickly.

"What're ya doin?" Daryl questioned one he saw who it was, "sounded like you were tryin ta break the damn door down!"

Sophia looked at her feet.

"Sorry," she whispered, "it's just that you'd been in there for ages!"

Daryl looked down at an invisible watch on his wrist.

"I've been in here all of 10 minutes!" he defended.

"Well it seemed like longer." Sophia pouted.

"If you were that desperate to go, there's trees outside." He smirked

"Eeeewwwww!" Sophia recoiled.

"What?!" Daryl questioned, "Ya mean ta tell me that you spent a week in the woods without needing ta piss?!"

Sophia blushed and quickly turned her face away. Daryl could see that he'd embarrassed her and he decided to spare her the awkwardness of his presence.

"Now get in there," he gestured over his shoulder, "you're gonna hafta quit bein all lady-like soon ya know!"

"Finally!" Sophia breathed.

She squeezed between Daryl and the doorframe as he came out of the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind him before quickly opening again.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Sophia said, sticking her head out, "Momma wants to talk to you."

Before he could even respond, she'd slammed the door again.

"I bet she does." He said under his breath.

He started walking towards the stairs before stopping to remember his boots and his old shirt. Glancing back at the bathroom door, he decided not to wait around, he could get them later. Daryl reached the bottom of the stairs and padded across the wooden hallway floor in the direction of the kitchen. Being shoeless he was practically silent, not that he made much noise before. Upon reaching the doorway, he stopped and leant up against it, just listening to the discussion going on between the two women in the kitchen.

"Just make sure they don't take nervous Nellie and there shouldn't be a problem." Maggie instructed, elbow deep in soapy dish water.

Carol stood beside her, towel in hand, drying off the dishes from the sideboard.

"You're sure your dad won't mind?" Carol questioned, probably not for the first time.

"I'm sure," Maggie assured her, "in all honesty I'm just surprised Daryl offered. I don't really know the guy very well, but he doesn't strike me as the teacher type...or even the child-friendly type really."

"He's a good man with a kind heart. He didn't give up on Sophia at all. It surprises me less than I thought to be totally honest." Carol unconsciously defended him.

Daryl didn't like hearing people sing his praises so he chose that moment to interrupt.

"Ahem" he coughed.

Both women abruptly turned their heads to see him standing there. They both looked surprised as they had not heard him approach.

"Sorry," he explained, "can't help it. It's habit...Oh, and ya know..."

He gestured down towards his bare feet. Maggie still looked like she didn't quite understand him as a person, but Carol had a small smile on her face.

"I guess you heard that both Hershel and I are okay with you teaching Sophia to ride a horse?" Carol asked.

In truth it hadn't occurred to Daryl that Hershel might object to him borrowing a horse or the old man's equipment.

Daryl shrugged lightly.

"Sure"

"All the stuff's in the stable." Maggie nodded her in the direction of the large wooden stable outside the window.

"Well I didn't think ya kept it all in the freezer now did I?!" Daryl retorted sarcastically.

Maggie sighed before reaching for another towel to dry her hands with as she walked out of the kitchen, feigning accidentally stepping on his foot on the way.

"Sorry." She said in her own sarcastic tone.

Before Daryl could have a go at her, it was Carol's turn to clear her throat. He turned back to face her across the room. She had finished drying her own hands and was now leaning back on the draining board, arms outstretched behind her with the towel still clutched in one hand. There was a moment of silence where Carol looked like she could've done with a bit more time to work on what she was going to say.

"Thank you..." she began before Daryl interrupted her.

"Don't start thankin me again, I did what had to be done, nothin more."

"...but you ARE doing more Daryl!" She came back.

He looked at her with a full face of confusion.

"You offered to teach her to ride a horse," Carol continued, "she loves horses, she always wanted to learn."

"Maybe shoulda told her to ask one of the farm girls, they'd probably teach her better than I could anyway." Daryl sighed.

"It wouldn't be the same." Carol shook her head.

She stood up straight, putting her hands on her hips, leaving the towel on the draining board.

"You've established her trust," she pointed out, "you've shown her that not all men are like her father!"

Daryl looked her straight in the eyes. They looked glossy, like she was holding back tears. Did she really believe that? Did she really believe her daughter trusted him? He was hardly the ideal candidate for the role of representative for the good men of the world. Or maybe she just guessed that all the real good men were long dead by now, so the bar was pretty low. Added to that, it wasn't exactly hard to be a better person than Ed Peletier.

"She shouldn't trust anyone in this world anymore."

It sounded stupid as he said it; that was exactly what you needed within your group. If you can't trust the people you've been surviving with then you won't be surviving much longer. But by this point Carol had verbally backed him into a corner and he was looking for a way out.

"Exactly," Carol agreed, surprising him, "but she went and chose to trust you anyway, you can see it in her eyes, the way she looks at you. She doesn't fear you the way she fears pretty much everything else."

He looked away; almost embarrassed at the fact that someone was saying something pleasant about him.

"You make her feel safe Daryl." Carol said softly.

She paused, thinking up her final words on the matter.

"And I feel a lot better knowing you'll look out for her."

There was a moment of silence. Carol had said what she wanted to say. She waited for Daryl to respond, but he didn't. Didn't even seem to move, let alone speak. He just stared off to one side. After a few minutes of nothing, he turned to look at her again.

"I'll be waitin for her at the stable." He said, quieter than usual but not quite a whisper.

After that, he turned and walked back down the hall, heading for the door. He hadn't forgotten about his boots, but walking across the field barefoot was a small price to pay to get out of the very uncomfortable position he'd gotten himself into. He knew Carol was only trying to be nice, but he wasn't used to it. Probably never would be.

The sun was just starting to reach it's peak as it got to midday. The grass was dry, which he was thankful for. Wet feet was always something that bugged him. It made the rest of him cold and felt horrible. He'd just have to make sure the horse didn't step on his foot.

* * *

After watching Daryl walk out the house with nothing on his feet, Carol wondered if she'd crossed the line. She'd never said more than a few words to either Dixon brother before this week, but through that she understood they were very private people who didn't get on well with others. Merle was definitely the more talkative of the two of them. She always thought that was because Daryl didn't need to talk when Merle usually did all the talking for the pair of them. Now she began to wonder if it was something deeper. Perhaps Daryl didn't think himself worth much and by extension his thoughts weren't worth hearing. It was a viable explanation for why he wasn't good at taking compliments. Ed made her feel the same way. She just hoped that perhaps knowing he'd saved her daughter's life and knowing exactly what the two of them thought of him, he would start to value himself a bit more.

Suddenly, there was a loud thunderous clobbering coming down the stairs. At first her mind shot back to thoughts of her late husband who would often make a lot of noise and thunder down the stairs when he was angry. But as quickly as those thoughts emerged, she shut them out again, full well knowing Ed was gone. She made her way into the hallway as Sophia appeared at the bottom of the stairs wearing Daryl's old shirt over her own and sporting his boots while she carried her own shoes in her hand. Carol couldn't suppress her amusement.

"All you need now is stubble and a crossbow and you could pass yourself off as a mini Daryl." She joked.

Both the shoes and the shirt were a little big on her which added to the comedy of it all.

"Come here, let me have that shirt so I can wash it and give it back to him." Carol offered, reaching out a hand to take the shirt.

Sophia took a half step back, nearly tripping in the boots, and wrapped her arms round herself to protect the shirt.

"Please Momma," she whined, "can I at least wear it while I ride the horse? I promise I'll give it back after."

"Go on then," Carol sighed, "but at least give him his boots back, you don't want him to hurt his feet do you?"

Sophia smiled brightly.

"Thanks Momma!" she shouted, turning and running out the door as best she could.

As she rounded the side of the house Carol turned to watch her out the kitchen window. She could see her hobbling off in the direction of the stable. It was definitely a funny sight to see. She just hoped Daryl would find it as amusing as she did. Perhaps he'd finally realize she was right about him.

**A/N: Well, I wasn't sure how to spend my time in hospital (I hate hospitals), so I decided to sit in the window, dangle my feet out and write fanfiction. To start with I had no idea what I was doing, then eventually words started to trickle out of my brain to form this chapter.**

**I've noticed I tend to have a habit of making a chapter out of something that would easily only take 10 minutes in the real world, then I time skip between chapters...I know it doesn't make for very good reading, but I'm trying to stop (obviously not very well).**

**I know there's not been any action in this story so far, but I've been having thoughts about the next chapter, and by the sounds of it, that's all about to change.**

**R&amp;R :D**


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